Concrete railroad tie



N. F. BROWN ET AL CONCRETE RAILROAD TIE Filed Feb. 11, 1930 Jan. 13, 1931.v

IINVENTOR Patented Jan. 13', 1931 UNITED STATES NORMAN n. BROWN AND CHARLES ivrlnnrrun'i,` on yPi'rrsnunef'n,PnivnfsvLvnNiA,'As

SIGNORS TO THE (IlOIN'GREII'IE TIE COMPANY, O PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, A

, oonrona'rron or :DELAWARE CONCRETE RAILROAD 'rin Application led February 11,1930. Serial No. 427,508.

This invention relates to reinforced concrete ties. t y

For years' efforts have been made to perfect a substitute for the perishable* woodenV lties .151 now commonly used in railroad beds by prac# J tically all railroad companies. Many forms of concreteties have been proposed andpatented for this purpose, but very `few ofV them however have proven to ybe practical, or have receivedany appreciable commercial success for variousreasons. Many are impractical because they will'not stand up under the continuous jars and shocks they are subjected to in service. Some fail because of their complicated and costly construction, while many others fail because of theundesirable nonresilient form oflroa-d bed they provide.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved reinforced concrete tie of simple durable oonstructionpwhich is capable of resiliently and continually supporting rails mounted upon it in a highly satisfactory manner for an unlimited period without .revquiring other than minor repairs once the tie has been placed in service.

Another object is to provide a tie of this character which may be used in the same way and has the same characteristics in service as afw'ooden tie except that it is notperishable.

A further object is to provide a reinforced concrete tie in which there are disposed dependable and durable resilient means for yieldably supporting the rails that are adapted in addition to formino* a resilient seat for the rails and for functioningas a cushion to lirotect the concrete portion of the tie against injury from shocks and jars, to receiveany form of rail retaining member such as spikes or screws in the same manner as wooden ties, and which may be renewed with ease when worn, at a minimum. cost. v

A still further object is to provide atie which is capable of being manufactured 'and placed in service without specialconnections or appliances at a comparatively low cost and which may be repaired in case of wear in such a simple manner as to materially reducethe maintenance cost of road beds in which it is used.

These and other objects as well as the novel PATENT -1IfcfE i featuresand advantagesof the' invention will become apparent when thefollowing detailed Y descriptionis read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, of which lis a i plan view of a tie constructed in accordance with the invention li`1g-2 is Vaside elevational view of the tie shown 1n lFig. l with a railattached at one endand a portion atv the outer end removed; and Fig. 8 a vertical crosssection vtaken through the tie on the line III-III of Fig. V1. f v

Referring specifically tol thev drawings, the invention is illustrated 'as'comprising a tie which is made up of a one piece concrete body l castabout threelaterally 'spaced reinforcing members 2, V3 and` 4. These members,

which obviously may be more orless in num.-

ber, consist of steel .rods bent to the shape of elongate loops with ends joined together and arranged in the tie in al vertical Vmanner with their upper and lower .cords disposed adjacent to the upper and lower surfacel'of theconcrete as viewed in Figs. 2 and 3. At

suitable intervals along the length of the lon-- gitudinally disposed reinforcing members 2,

3 and 4 there are transversely arranged reinforcing bands 5 which are adapted to surround the longitudinal 'reinforcing members. These bands lare formedffrom suitable steel rods in substantiallythe same way asy the elongated loops 2, 3 and 4, that is by bending them to a rectangular shape with their ends either placed in overlapping or abutting relation and then welding or otherwise joining them together.

`When :the skeleton reinforcement structure is being assembled, thebands 5 are preferably fastened lto the elongate members 2, 3 and l by wel ding or other suitable means such as by pieces lof readily manipulated lengths of wire, andv when so attached they serve to support the longitudinal members to hold themv in place in'proper spaced relationl in a mold until the concrete has been poured and set around them. They also serve to prevent the tie from splitting longitudinally. n

In the bearing portions at either end of the tie where the rails are positioned. there are provided' aplurality of holes G, 7,8 and `9 whichv are systematically arranged ini-spaced relation with respect to each other, the spacing depending upon the spacing of the retainer. receiving holes in the structural tie plates employed on the tie, and which may be of diierent standard shapes for different roadsf These holes extend from the upper sto the lower face of the tie and have a uniform cross sectional area throughout then' length; They may be square or other shapeV 1n cross section, but are preferably the former for the purpose of preventing plugs disposed in them from turning andfor also vpermitting n 14Qof resilient material areV either embedded directly in theconcrete when the tie is molded in their; proper position-s and allow-ed to re- Y main there until they are destroyed, at which time they may' be removed and replaced by new ones, or cores are placedin themoldto 'form the holes and the plugsV which are precut to shape are then'Y driven into the holes, thus formed, after theconcrete hasl set; Ordinarily and preferably these plugs or anchor blocks are made of wood, because that material is comparatively cheap anduniv'ersally available, but other resilient materialssuch as ber may be used. A `V `rIo render the tie strong enough to withstand the strains'produced when the plugs are driven into the holes .and the spikes `or other retainer members are driven or forced into the plugs as well as the subsequent pulling strains imposed thereon by the forcesV transmitted thereto from the rails when they 'are loaded, particularly'on,cui-ves, the holes are surrounded by circumscribing reinforcing members 15 and'lG.l These members,'com

prising substantial bands ofsteel rodvwhich Y Vare preferably made in the form of a ring or figure 8 whereby to providebetter strength against radially extending forces'projecting from the plugs, are tiedto the upper and lower' cords of the elongate reinforcing members 2, 8 and fl. vAV feature of the circumscribing hole reinforcing members is that they do not impair to any appreciable extent the pouring of the concrete into the molds like helical Vshaped reinforcement' members orl members Vof that type which have. been commonly employed for this purposewin the pas. Y In manufacturing-'the tie the reinforcing members 2, 8, and e are properly positioned in a suitable mold, being held in spaced relation by means 0f the bands 5 as described hereinbefore. A. suitable mixture'of concrete of proper consistency is poured into the mold which is of such shape as to form the complete tie, and as referred to above, the plugs 11, 12. 18 and 14 are either embedded in the concrete when the tie is formed or the holes 6, 7, 8 and 9 are formed by coresfastened to one side of the mold. These cores as well as the` mold are removed after the concrete is set. When the `plugs Vare embedded in the concrete the concrete becomes somewhat im pregnated in their surfaces and especially where they are of a porous nature. This forms a bond which assists iii-holding' the plugs in place. To improve the bond the standard forms of tie plates are used. y To accommodate for f these various forms' fof tie platesfth'e plugs 1 1, 12, 413 and Mare arranged 'in the tie in such a manner as to register lwith the retainer receiving openings in the plates. v"One form ofrsucha plate isshown at 17 in Figs.l 1 and 2. Inthis plate a pair of holes V18 and 19l are yprovided in oppositecorvplugs are provided with a rough vunnished surface.V In thecase .where'the holes arelas ners thereof in such'spaced'relation4 as to permit a pair of spikes 21 and 22 or other vretaining members to be passed through themv yto Vengage'the iianges of a rail23 mounted on the plate. In another cornerthe're'is arranged a hole 24 which is spaced from the rail flange and in vwhichy a retainermember 25 is placed foranchoring the plate tothe tie Inthe other vcorner twoV holes`26 and 27 are arranged Vfor the reception of vtwo retainer members 28 and 29, hole 26 bemg arranged to permit retainer member 28 to engage the iia'nge of fthe rail and hole 27 spaced 'therefrom so that retainer 29 like retainer 25 func'- Vtions only tovanchorthe plate lto the tie.

lVith this' form of plate, with the exception of retainers 28and 29', individual plugs are provided for the reception of each of the retainers,plug 14 beingy made suiliciently large to accommodate both retainers 28 and 29. This makes fora bettertie and one which may be repaired in part with ease, and as referred to above,V the arrangement may be varied to adapt the plugs for various forms of plates. Contrary to previous 4belief plugs arranged in the tie inthis way have been found to provide a very secure and satisfactory anchoring means for the retainer members in spite oftheir straight sides, and this 'feature in itself' is a real'advance since it permits the plugs to be madeas well as replaced at a comparatively lower cost than plugs'of '7V- an irregular shape, or plugs not extending all the way through the tie.

By. spacing the plugs in the manner described, the additional retainer members 25 and 29 which donot engage the flange of the rail firmly hold the tie plate in place, permitting it to act as a part of the tie with thc resultv that abrasion between the plates and the ties is eliminated.

In laying track the tie is positioned in the same manner as anordinary wooden tie.

-. Plugs 11,V 12, 13 and 14, nif notv molded thereo in, are placed in the tie. If desired, cushion plates of rubber, fiber or other materials are placed on the tie under the tie platesj The tie plates 1T are then placed thereon and the rails positioned and properlyV placed and spaced apart, and then the retainer members or spikes driven to placewith their heads drawn down tight 011 the plate or rail flanges. The plugs 11, l2, 13 and 14 and the cushion plates referred to if used, provide resiliency of connection between the rails and ties and prevent the pounding to' pieces of the ties that would result from absolutely rigid connection thereof with the rails. clear, the reinforcing members 2, 3 and et are so arranged on the tie body that a maximum amount of reinforcingis provided. These bars are of such size as to give abundant strength to the tie, being preferably made of about 324:7 to 1 steel rods. The tie described provides a durable resilient renewable structure having obvious advantages. It will be observed that the rails and tie plates are entirely spaced away from the current-conducting parts of the tie by insulating material. Consequently, the arrangements described furnish a well insulated rail, a result that is very desirable when signal systems are operated by current passed through the rails.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle and mode of operation of our invention, and havel illustrated and described what We now consider to be its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

le claim:

1. A railroad tie comprising a concrete body having -a plurality of resilient plugs e-mbedded in it in a vertical manner in systematically spaced relation and in groups adjacent its opposite ends, said plugs beingof uniform cross section throughouttheir entire length and extended all the way through the body of the tie and adapted to receive the ordinary forms of rail engaging 'members employed to fasten a tie to a rail a plurality of reinforcing rods arranged lengthwise in said body in spaced transverse relation, and figure-S-shaped reinforcing' members disposed near the top and bottom of the tie in circumscribed radially spaced relation about said plugs. Y v

2. A railroad tie comprising a concrete railto atie embedded in said concrete, said plugs being of uniform cross section throughout their length and extended all the way through the tie in `vertically `disposed spaced names.

' NORMAN F. BROWN.

CHARLES M. REPPERT.

As will be body, a reinforcing frame formed of aV plurality of connected loop-shaped rods arranged withinand spaced from the Walls of v said body, a plurality of resilient plugs adapted for the reception of the ordinary` f' rail engaging members employed to fasten a 

